The Protector
by lizzieten
Summary: modern day Naruto. Everyone needs a reason to keep fighting. Can Naruto find his, or will he give up?
1. Chapter 1

The Protector

"Freak" Naruto heard a harsh voice call out before shoving him into his locker at Konoha high. Naruto frowned, it was his first week at Konoha high, and already he was being picked on. He already hated going to school here, last school he went to had been Rain high school, and Naruto had been treated much the same way there as he was here. He wished he'd never moved here. He wished his father wasn't some big important doctor that was needed so much.

He sighed and pushed away from his locker after gathering his necessary books. He headed towards Iruka Sensei's class with his head down. He preferred being invisible so that he wouldn't get picked on, but so far here at Konoha high, he wasn't doing such a great job.

Entering his classroom, Naruto made his way towards the back to seat beside one of the only people who had been friendly towards him so far. Rock Lee was already had his class materials out and ready to go. He loved learning and didn't mind that he was labeled as the biggest nerd in the school.

"If it isn't the spirit of youth, looking troubled this morning!" Lee called out noticing immediately, Naruto's quieter than normal demeanor.

"Lee" Naruto greeted as he took the seat beside him, and then promptly laid his head on his desk.

"Why does your spirit of youth not shine so bright this morning?" Lee asked.

"It's this school" Naruto muttered lifting his head to look at Lee. "Everyone except you hates me and I don't know why." He scowled when he saw one of his vicious tormentors enter the room. Sasuke Uchiha had hated Naruto on sight, and seemed to want to make the young blonde as miserable as he could.

Naruto sat up, wincing as the pain in his head grew worse. He'd been getting a lot of headaches lately. He had figured they were because of the stress he'd been experiencing at being at a new school. He raised his hand and rubbed at his temples ignoring the concerned glances of Lee.

"Are you getting sick?" Lee asked worried about his new friend.

"It's just a stress headache" Naruto replied, before lowering his hand back to his desk. "I've started getting them more since I've been at this school."

Sasuke walked to the back of the room and took the seat directly behind Naruto, causing the blonde to groan audibly. He knew Sasuke was going to find some way to torture him during class, and because he was Uchiha he would get by with it. Naruto wondered why Sasuke hated him so much; it wasn't like Naruto had done anything to him. In fact Naruto hadn't done anything other than try to stay out of his way. But when you lived right next door to him, that wasn't such an easy task, Naruto clinched his hands into fists and vowed that he wouldn't say anything to him, during class.

"Hey, blondie?" Sasuke leaned forward and hissed in Naruto's ear. "Is it true you got kicked out of Rain for being a fag." Rain had been a very prejudiced school, and no one who was gay would admit to it while going there.

"No!" Naruto said "I didn't get kicked out at all! I'm only here because my father was hired at Konoha General!"

"I think your lying! Uzumaki" Sasuke said "You're dad couldn't possibly be smart enough to be a doctor, not if your anything like him, after all your just plain stupid aren't you?"

Naruto sucked in a deep breath and held for a second before releasing it. Sasuke was apparently not going to give him an easy time today. He wished he could disappear into the floor, when he saw the class's pink haired beauty, Sakura Haruno look back at him and then start laughing when her friend Ino whispered that Naruto was learning disabled along with being fag. None of which was true but still Naruto was ashamed that such things were being spread about him.

"You should just leave fag" Sasuke said rather loudly "No one wants you here anyways, we have no use for you." Naruto closed his eyes feeling tears form. The bullies were worse here at Konoha that at Rain.

"Why are you such an ass…." Naruto started to ask before a blinding pain filled his head, and he gasped loudly before grabbing at his head. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut; his head had never hurt like this before. He whimpered softly as the pain only grew worse. He had to get out of here, had to get away from Sasuke and the laughter that filled the classroom.

He stood shakily to his feet, clumsily gathering his stuff before racing towards the door. He nearly ran into Iruka as he was entering the classroom. The kind teacher frowned, and seeing the paleness in Naruto's face, stepped out of the way.

"Are you okay?" Iruka called out but Naruto ignored him as he entered the hallway. His head was somehow even worse now; he could barely see anything in front of him. Naruto paused in the hallway, dropping his things to floor and grasping at his hair. He'd never felt so sick in his life.

Unable to walk further than the nearest locker, Naruto slid to the floor, his hands still cradling his head. He wasn't sure what, but he had the feeling his headaches weren't just normal headaches, something was seriously wrong. He should have told his father when they had first started, a few months ago. But he had the feeling his father would have just told him to take some medicine, that he had other cases that needed his attention. His father loved him, but he also loved his work, he wanted his patients to have the best care possible, which meant he spent more time at work than at home.

Feeling wetness flow from his nose, Naruto wiped at it absently with one of his hands, he scowled when it came away bloody. This was new. He'd never had a nose bleed with the headaches before. Hearing a noise he turned to find Sasuke standing in front of him. He groaned inwardly and wondered if he was there to continue his taunting.

"Iruka sent me to check on you!" He sneered and Naruto wanted to wipe the smug look off the dark haired teens face. Sasuke stared down at the pale blonde in front of him. There did appear to be something wrong with the kid, not that Sasuke was a doctor or anything but he saw the signs of illness when he saw one.

"I don't need your help" Naruto moaned one hand trying to stem the flow of blood the other keeping a tight grip on his head.

"I'm supposed to take you to the Tsunade" Sasuke said "I don't want to, but because Iruka asked I will do so." Naruto glared at Sasuke wondering when the teen would start making fun of him again. Sasuke ignored Naruto's glare, and bent down and wrapped his hand around the blonde's arm and pulled him to his feet.

Naruto groaned and almost sat back down, his head spinning, making him dizzy.

"Slow down" he told Sasuke feeling like he was going to fall over at any second. Sasuke surprisingly done as Naruto asked, not liking the way the kid looked. Seeing how sick, the younger teen was Sasuke almost felt bad for picking on him. He had no idea why he'd even started it, other than that there was something about the blonde that made the kid vulnerable and easy to pick on. Everyone else he was somewhat friendly with, he wasn't sure why he'd taken an instant disliking to Naruto.

They were walking slowly down the hallway, stopping once to let Naruto vomit from the pain going through his skull. Sasuke tried to ignore the smell of sickness as he continued helping Naruto towards the nurse. Halfway there, Naruto collapsed completely, his body writing on the ground. His head hit the concrete floor with a loud crack.

"I need some help!" Sasuke yelled as he kneeled down next to the seizing Naruto. He wasn't sure what to do, he'd never seen a seizure before, but he knew he had to get Naruto's off the floor so he didn't injure it even more.

He'd just gotten Naruto's head into his lap, when one of the teachers in the classroom exited when he'd heard Sasuke yelling. Seeing the pair on the floor, the silver haired teacher whipped out his cell phone calling for the paramedics.

"They're going to be here in a few minutes" Kakashi told Sasuke as the Naruto's seizure came to an end, leaving the blonde unconscious and limp in the floor.

Sure enough, ten minutes later two medics were racing through the halls with a gurney behind them.

They immediately began peppering Sasuke with questions as they checked Naruto's vital stats and got him loaded onto the gurney.

"The headache came out of nowhere" Sasuke told them "he was fine one minute and then crying out in pain the next, and he also had a pretty bad nosebleed as well." The dark haired medic looked at his partner.

"Whatever is wrong with this kid isn't good," he said as they loaded him into the ambulance. "I just hope it's not what I think it is."

"The doctors will have to decide on that." The older medic said as climbed into the driver's seat and put his seatbelt on. He was worried about the kid too, he was showing signs of a serious illness, and he wondered if Minato had taken any kind of notice of this. Naruto shouldn't have been in this position, his father being a doctor in all. Minato should have seen the signs a long time ago and done something about it.

Anybody want to know what's going on? Leave a review and I will update as fast as possible. Thanks for reading, Liz


	2. Chapter 2

The Protector

Chapter 2

Naruto opened his eyes to see a bright light shining into his eyes. He winced and turned away, the light only made his head hurt even more. He recognized the smell of being in the hospital and wondered how he'd gotten here. Last thing he'd remembered was being at school and tormented by Sasuke Uchiha.

"Why am I here?" Naruto managed to ask, though any noise hurt his head. It still felt like he had a herd of elephants stomping on his brain. It wasn't a good feeling, and his stomach was rolling nervously from it. This had to be the worst one yet.

Hearing his father's voice, Naruto turned and looked towards the doorway. His father was currently talking to a dark haired doctor. Naruto recognized her as Shizune. He turned back to his nurse who was checking his vital stats.

"You collapsed and had a seizure at school" Hannah said. Naruto frowned apparently his headaches weren't cause of stress, though he knew he lived with more than plenty of that.

"You don't know what's wrong with me yet, do you?" Naruto asked as he swallowed against the bile that had yet again rose in his throat. He had never felt more terrible in his life than he did at that moment. What he wouldn't give to just feel better.

"No yet" Hannah said, as she took a wet cloth and laid it over Naruto eye's. "That should help the headache some. You're going to be going down for a cat scan and maybe then you can find out what's causing your headaches." Naruto knew that a cat scan was just another more detailed x-ray.

"So they think something is wrong with my brain?" Naruto mumbled and for the first time since he'd been brought in, he felt scared. He'd never given any thought to what could be causing the headaches, but now that he was here literally staring down the gun at it. He was terrified. If there was something wrong with his brain, what was he going to do? if the school found out, he'd never hear the end of it, even though it wasn't like it was his fault he was sick. He heaved a sigh; he might as well remember that he was unlucky. He was a walking Murphy's Law. If it could go wrong it would.

"Maybe, maybe not" Hannah told him "Wouldn't you like to know what was causing them?"

"Depends" Naruto said "I do and I don't." Hannah gave his hand a quick squeeze before turning and walking out of the room, allowing Minato inside.

"Hey, kiddo" Minato said as he came over and sat down beside him. "Are you feeling any better?" Naruto shook his head no, though the movement made him dizzy. For a little while the pain had dulled but it was back now in full force.

"What if there's something wrong with me?" Naruto asked his father, his fear clear in his eyes.

"If and when that happens" Minato said "then we'll do everything we can to make you better." Minato didn't mention what Naruto's doctor suspected. He didn't want Naruto to be even more afraid than he was already. The CAT scan was only going to confirm her suspicions. He hoped that what she thought was wrong, was not what he thought it was. He'd watched too many people suffer from this particular illness, his late wife included. He didn't think he could handle it if he had to watch Naruto suffer through it. About a year after Naruto was born, his wife Kushina had started experiencing mind blowing migraines. After she finally went to the doctor, they discovered a cancerous tumor. They had tried chemotherapy and radiation but the tumor continued growing, until finally Kushina was comatose. Minato had sat with her and watched her suffer through those months of treatment, and then sat with young Naruto by his side and watched her die. Minato didn't think that he could do that with his son. So he silently prayed that Naruto didn't have the same thing that Kushina did.

"I'm scared" Naruto said "I'm having trouble fitting in at school anyways, if word of this gets out, well, I'll be the sick freak, doomed to always be the outcast."

"You're not usually this negative" Minato pointed out "where's your positive attitude?

"It left the day Sasuke started picking on me!" Naruto said groaning as his stomach rolled again. "I hate Konoha high, it's worse than Rain high was, and that's saying something."

"Just hang in there" Minato said hating that his usual happy go lucky son was having so much trouble. "It'll get better." Naruto rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

After a few minutes Naruto grew still and silent just seconds before his body started convulsing violently on the bed. Minato watched in horror while nurses rushed into the room. He swallowed hard, wanting to throw up as he watched his son's body twitch. There was nothing worse than watching your child suffer and know that there wasn't anything that you could do about it. There was something seriously, maybe even fatally wrong with Naruto, he hadn't wanted to admit it until just then.

Within minutes Shizune had added some anticonvulsant to Naruto's IV drip. She looked over at Minato, and he swallowed hard again. This wasn't good at all. He watched as his unconscious son was wheeled from the room. Shizune came to him.

"It's not looking good" she said seriously "I just hope we caught it in time."

"So do I" Minato muttered "But that diagnosis isn't official yet, I'm not accepting it until it is." Minato sucked in a deep breath, and released it slowly. The stress was already starting to get to him, he needed a break soon.

"Come and get me after the scan will you?" Minato asked, Shizune nodded and Minato turned and walked out of the room. He was almost to the ER exit when he saw Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha in the waiting room, talking to one of the nurses that had been with Naruto earlier. Sasuke didn't look happy about being there, and Minato figured that Itachi had somehow found out about Naruto and had dragged Sasuke there to check up on him. Minato had hoped that Sasuke and Naruto would be friends, but apparently that was too much to ask. Sasuke had started picking on Naruto at school, and avoided him completely when they were both home. Minato figured it was a sort of self-protection to keep people at bay. After being the son of a famous hit man didn't exactly make him popular, especially when said hit man was in prison for the rest of his life. Which left the younger Uchiha with his older brother, who conveniently worked for the police. Sasuke had become the bully so that he wouldn't get picked on anymore, Minato wondered how that was working for him. Just then Itachi spotted, Minato and headed his way.

"How's Naruto?" Itachi asked, with Sasuke looking bored behind him.

"Tests are being run but right now we don't know anything." Minato said.

"You're a doctor shouldn't you know something?" Sasuke asked, though he still sounded disinterested in anything going on around him.

"It would be a conflict of interest for me to run tests on Naruto myself." Minato replied. "I do have my suspicions but nothing has been confirmed as of yet."

"Probably nothing more serious than stress" Sasuke muttered before putting his headphones in his ears, and tuning the rest of the conversation out.

"I hope the tests turn out well" Itachi told him, unlike Sasuke, Itachi had no problem with Naruto, and in fact often went next door to check on Naruto when Minato was at work. Itachi had invited Naruto to their house on more than one occasion but because of Sasuke, Naruto had always refused. Itachi knew Naruto was having a hard time with Sasuke, he'd tried to talk to Sasuke about it, but his little brother tuned him out and went right on picking on Naruto.

"So do I" Minato said "I don't want to think about the possibility of having to face life without him." _Nor should I have too _he thought _and I will try my hardest to make sure he's okay. I'm not letting you go without a fight, Naruto so please just hang on for me. _

After Itachi and Sasuke left a few minutes later, Minato returned to the room, that Naruto had been admitted too. He sat down in the hard plastic chair beside the bed. He closed his eyes and prayed that his son would be spared the tumor that had claimed his mother's life. No one should ever have to suffer like that. Minato didn't think he could go through it again. After what seemed like years, Shizune found Minato waiting in Naruto's room. All it took was one look and Minato knew the truth of what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

The Protector

Naruto regained consciousness shortly after the CAT scan was completed. As he opened his eyes, he noticed his father, nervously pacing the length of the room.

"Dad," Naruto groaned, he still wasn't feeling all that great, but the headache wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. He was glad; he was tired of the constant pain. He was ready to know what was causing the headaches. Naruto wondered if there was a chance that his dad already knew.

Minato turned when he heard his son's voice, he was relieved to him awake, and looking like he felt better.

"How are you feeling? Head still hurting?" Minato asked wondering how he was going to tell his son that things were about to change, and maybe not for the good. Naruto had one hell of a fight a head of him, if he wanted to live; it wasn't going to be easy.

"It doesn't hurt much right now" Naruto replied, pausing briefly to see if his dad would fill in the blanks for him. Minato heaved a sigh, this is where is got tough. Maybe he should just come out and say it? Naruto had never been patient to begin with, so Minato couldn't see it doing any good to keep it from him right now.

"The doctors found a large growth on your brain" Minato said slowly, Naruto frowned that didn't sound good at all. "This growth is what's causing your headaches and seizures."

"Is it cancerous?" Naruto asked remembering what Minato had told him about his mother before she died years earlier. Minato looked away; Shizune thought it was very possible that it was the same cancer that had claimed Kushina's life.

"There's a chance that it is." Minato hedged not wanting to cause Naruto anymore fear than necessary. "Even if it is" Minato continued "I'll find a cure somewhere. I won't rest until your better." While that should have been a relief, it only added more pressure on Naruto.

Naruto turned away, he'd had a feeling the doctors would find something. Now he was terrified. What if it was cancer? Did they catch it in time? Or would he have to suffer for months waiting for the end? The thought scared him even more, he didn't want to spend endless months in pain, and sick all the time. He almost wished he'd never found out, despite his father's assurances he wasn't sure that anything could be done.

"I know you're worried" Minato said "But whatever happens, I will make sure your well taken care of." _of course _Naruto thought _benefits of being a doctors son, always get the best care possible. _Naruto turned and looked at his father, tears shining in his eyes.

"I don't know that I can do this" he said "I don't think I'm strong enough."

"Nonsense" Minato said "you can fight this and win, because you have a bigger heart than anyone I know. You are strong enough, look at what you go through at school day after day and still you get up every morning with a smile on your face."  
"I'm glad you think so." Naruto mumbled, his eyes starting to close as his pain medication started to kick in.

"What kind of parent would I be if I didn't believe in my kid" Minato wondered out loud as Naruto drifted off to sleep. Minato looked toward the doorway and noticed Shizune standing in the doorway. She had a grim expression on her face and Minato knew that she didn't have anything good to say. Somehow Minato knew they were dealing with the same thing that had claimed his wife's life years before. Fear filled Minato as he wondered how they would fight this monster a second time.

He looked over at Naruto's sleeping form, sighing, Minato headed for the door. He needed to know their options.

"What can we do?" Minato demanded as soon as they were out in the hall, away from Naruto.

"I'm going to refer you to an oncologist for one" Shizune said "and considering your medical history, we probably should have done it, as soon as he started having seizures. I'm sure they'll want to start him on some intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments as soon as possible, considering the size of the tumor; we need to do something soon."

"He's not going to handle that very well." Minato commented, dreading the days ahead. No parent wanted to see their child suffer, especially like this.

"He's going to be a very sick, teen that's for sure" Shizune agreed, hating what this family would be going through yet again. Minato closed his eyes as a wave of pain rolled through him. He'd never thought he would have to face this monster again. Hadn't it taken enough from him already? Now it was going to try and claim his only child? Well, it wasn't going to get Naruto without a fight; Minato would try every treatment he could afford. He wasn't going to let Naruto die on him.

If he had his way Naruto wouldn't have had to walk this road at all. But now that this was the road they were on, Minato wasn't letting him walk it alone. Minato figured now would be the best time to take a leave of absence but at the same time he wondered if he should do that. Naruto's treatments were going to be expensive which meant Minato would probably have to work some of the time. There would be patients that needed him, but for once Minato figured that it was time that he put Naruto before his work. _Because there's a chance you may not have your son much longer_ Minato thought. He shook his head to clear away the negativity; he couldn't afford to think like that. He needed to be positive and believe that Naruto would beat this disease.

"You do know it has to be started as soon as possible so that Naruto stands a chance at fighting?" Shizune asked seeing the faraway look in Minato's eyes.

"I hate the thought of what he'll have to go through" Minato said "but if it means that he's not going to die, then I'll do whatever it takes."

"That's good, because he will suffer, more than he has already but if we can shrink the tumor than we can remove it." Minato nodded he understood that if they couldn't shrink the tumor then Naruto's chances of survival would be slim to none.

They talked for a few more minutes, before Minato returned to Naruto's bedside. Sitting in the chair beside the bed, Minato stared out the window that overlooked Konoha. He prayed that Naruto wouldn't have to experience the normal side effects of chemotherapy. It had been painful watching Kushina go through it. Minato didn't think he could survive watching Naruto go through it. Naruto was all he had left of his wife. He couldn't bear the thought of Naruto suffering.

A few hours later, Naruto opened his eyes to find his father still staring out the window. When he'd been told about the tumor, he'd been terrified, he still was. But he believed he could beat it, no matter what happened he wouldn't quit fighting. It was kind of hard to not be terrified when you had the same thing that killed your mother.

"Dad" Naruto said immediately catching his father's attention. "When can I get out of here?"

"As soon as we talk to the oncologist and get your seizures under control, which by the way how's your head?"

"Fine at the moment" Naruto replied after a few minutes of deciding how he truly felt. And it was true for the time in ages; Naruto's head didn't hurt at all. He sighed and wished he was home already. He would rather be home playing video games or even doing homework for that matter. Anything would be better than waiting to find out if you had cancer or not.

"I know you want to go home" Minato said "and I promise as soon as possible I'll take you." Naruto sighed again he knew his father would keep his word, but he was getting restless. He'd never been easy to keep in one place for long.

A soft knock came on the door and both Minato and Naruto turned their heads to look at it.

The doctor entered a few seconds later, with Naruto's CAT scan film in his hands.

"Naruto, I'm Dr. Kabuto and I'm going to be your oncologist" Kabuto said introducing himself before getting down to business. He placed the film over a light and flicked the switch illuminating Naruto's brain.

Naruto stared at the large tumor that covered about one fourth of his brain. He hadn't expected it to be that big. Kabuto noticed his reaction immediately.

"While the size of the tumor is concerning" he stated "I believe we can shrink it with some intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and eventually be able to remove it with surgery." Naruto frowned he had known this was coming; he just hadn't been prepared to deal with it so soon. Kabuto went on to explain the treatments he would be taking and the side effects he was likely to experience while taking them. Naruto cringed inwardly, if he thought he was having trouble fitting in now he could only imagine how walking around school with no hair would help him.

"Will I have to stay in the hospital for the treatments?" Naruto asked, praying that he wouldn't.

"No, not unless you're seriously ill from it the drugs will lower your immune system, making getting a common cold life threatening." Kabuto replied bluntly. He wanted Naruto to realize just how dangerous the situation was. "But you may want to avoid going to school for the time being. I shudder to think of the germs you could pick up there." After Kabuto told them about the first round of drugs that he'd be starting Naruto on, Naruto became less confident of his chances of survival. It was going to be a very hard road to survival.


End file.
